Apr 18 2009
Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat Playoff Matchup
The Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat are set to play their first game at Philips Arena on Sunday April 19th. The tip-off time will be 8 PM Eastern Time and it should be a fun game to watch. The hot shooting of Flip Murray and Marvin Williams will be key in the Hawk’s playoff success this year. Williams and Murray are the best shooters on the team and their ability to make jumpers will be big at Philips on Sunday and the rest of the playoff games. The 2nd game with the Miami Heat will be on Wednesday and this will be a very important game as one team tries to take command of the series or the other tries to tie it up. The Heat will really need to win at least 1 game in Atlanta if they have any shot of winning this first round series.
The most important player for the Atlanta Hawks may just be Josh Smith. His ability to elevate his game to superstar status is what makes it so exciting in Atlanta. The fans cheering loudly for his monster dunks or one of his high flying swats as he patrols the paint will be the fun part in this series. Players like Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson need to really focus on getting the other team members involve and neither one of these players has a consistent stroke from outside. I think Marvin and Flip are the best options from outside with Al Horford and Josh Smith pounding the ball inside. Maurice Evans will be huge too and his athletical play will be needed for Atlanta against the Heat in this series.
Dwayne Wade is the muscle to Miami’s attack, but look for Mario Chalmers, Michael Beasley, and Jermaine O’Neal to add some great support to their team leader. I think the defense of Chalmers could cause some problems for the Hawks and Beasley must be guarded on the offensive end of the court. The Hawks and Heat do match up well on the boards, but the team that wins the rebound battle might have the upper edge in this series. The Hawks do have the ability to run them off the floor, but not sure the Hawks will play a fast-style game on Sunday. They will need energy and a high tempo to each game they play against the Heat and winning the first two games in Atlanta will be huge.
This first round series in Atlanta should be pretty good and neither team isn’t likely to back down in this one! I look for the 3rd quarter to be huge for both teams and the team that wins the 3rd quarter battle will hang on in the 4th to win these games. The winner of this series will probably be playing the Cleveland Cavaliers in round 2 of the NBA playoffs.
